administrative documents have been published by the Islamist group CyberCaliphate, which claimed the cyber attack. Its ties with the Islamic state are uncertain
Le Monde . | • Updated | By
Like many computer attacks, which targeted TV5 Monde in Wednesday night 8 to Thursday, April 9, began with an email. Infected with a virus or claiming a password, it allowed hackers to drive the defenses of the TV channel, forcing it to interrupt its programs, to put its website offline and causing him to lose control accounts on social networks.
Since these events, journalists are clueless. “ We are in shock, the atmosphere is gloomy ,” said a journalist at the output of a general meeting held in the morning to try to reassure the troops. Working conditions are acrobatic: professional mailboxes have long been inaccessible. Emissions must be arranged using only cell phones, the internet and the telephone network being restored at dropper. It was not until late afternoon that a semblance of normalcy returns to the antennas: the chain could be showing its television news 18 hours, the first since the start of the offensive
The attack, according to a spokesman for the National Security Agency Information Systems (Anssi), responsible play firefighters at the headquarters of the chain is “ very serious ” and continued Thursday evening. The latter could continue for “ hours, even days .” This is to deal with this threat more elaborate than expected that the Agency has tripled the number of dispatched workers in local: the four engineers present at dawn were added nine to noon. Nothing exceptional for this agency, responsible for protecting networks of state, government and companies’ strategic, but a first for a media.
Administrative documents stolen
Being able to take control of the accounts on social networks is one thing, penetrate deep into the computer networks of a television channel, meant to be isolated from the Internet and its threats, is another . As such, the documents published by the pirates on TV5 Monde accounts contrasted with the extent of damage caused by the attack.
Pirates of parallel CyberCalifate have published papers they presented as “ confidential information of the French state .”
published files contain a Administrative unlikely Bazaar
In fact, this is an incredible administrative bazaar: the internal regulations of a hall of Paris, job ads for municipal services, extracts budgets or registration forms in recreational activities … According to our findings, these documents were not public and contain some personal information, but none are truly strategic or related to security issues.
Most of the documents appear to be from sites or computer networks of some town halls. Contacted by Le Monde , the relevant councils were unaware that their documents may have to be stolen. Shortly after the attacks in January 2015, numerous small computer attacks had targeted technical scale town halls sites, associations or French administrations. They were claimed by groups saying he wanted “defend Islam” – but rejecting the most tag “jihadists” . They were then attacked semi-automated way to poorly secured sites and poorly maintained, “easy” targets.
According to the Ministry of Interior, other documents, however, were “left behind “by the group that attacked TV5 Monde. Several photographs presented as identity or passport cards French soldiers, accompanied by threats, are being analyzed in order to determine their authenticity.
Links uncertain with the Islamic State
It ‘ is not the first time that the media are targeted by hackers claiming the Islamist group CyberCaliphate. In February, the Twitter account of the US magazine Newsweek had broadcast messages threats, aimed in particular Barack Obama and his family, and the phrase “I IS”, also displayed in the attack against TV5 Monde. The group had also claimed early January piracy multiple Twitter accounts belonging to US local media, in Maryland and in Albuquerque.
The Cyber Caliphate was founded by a young Columbia, known for hacking the address book of Tony Blair
Most importantly, CyberCaliphate stood out January 12 by getting into Twitter accounts and YouTube Command of the US military in the Middle East and Central Asia (US Central Command, CentCom) in order to disseminate messages and propaganda videos. The group also published a series of documents from the US Army, much of which was already freely available online. But three documents still contained personal data on general. The organization also claimed responsibility for hacking the Twitter account of a US soldier wife.
But the possible links of this group with the organization Islamic state (EI) seem very uncertain, in the opinion most experts. April 9, accounts on social networks sympathizers EI, the disclosure of which is very structured and are designed to serve “amplifiers” propaganda and demands of the organization, are also kept strangely silent. CyberCalifate posts from Arabic have many faults that seem to indicate that their authors are not Arabic speakers
The group, virtually unknown before hacking Twitter and YouTube accounts of US CentCom, could be related to d other collective of hackers. The Lizard Squad, who had made it a year ago a series of highly visible and customary piracy gross provocation, had claimed in January piracy Malaysia Airlines website posing as “ true Cyber Caliphate . “
CyberCaliphate was founded by a young Columbia, as US and British government sources who spoke after the attack against the CentCom. Junaid Hussain, aged about twenty years, rose to prominence in 2012 after having pirated address book Tony Blair, under the emblem of the hacker group Team Poison. He was sentenced to six months in this prison, before leaving the country for Syria
Read:. Three ministers at the bedside of TV5 Monde, hacked
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